


That Way

by 11chance11



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Established Relationship, First Time, I Love You, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 18:15:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6387334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/11chance11/pseuds/11chance11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a little piece that I wrote up. Felt like writing some Steve and Danny love. Not betaed, but I proofed it.  All mistakes are mine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Way

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for all the comments and kudos you all have left for my works. I so appreciate it!

Queens Hospital

 

"So, Chin and Kono are going to be with you for a bit here and I'll go home and get a few things into a bag and be back to take you home." Danny Williams suggested eagerly to his partner. "You'll be alright here for a little bit?"

Steve waved him off with a gesture of his hand. "I'm fine, buddy. Hardly a scratch." he smirked at him. "Go."

"Hardly a scratch he says." Danny rubbed his face for a second and took a breath before continuing. "Do you hear yourself? He tried to shoot you, Steven. You're just lucky his shot is completely awful!"

"I"m fine, Danny, okay?" Steve assured him easily. He held up his arm. 'Look, they gave me a Batman band aid and everything." He goofy grin looked like he'd won a prize or maybe even the state lottery.

Danny shook his head. This man was completely determined to drive him crazy! The thing was that he already had a pretty good start on it and yet, here was Danny going along with it as always.

Danny leaned over and up and quickly brushed his lips over Steve's who reciprocated it warmly.

In the next second, his blue eyes peered at the Commander cautiously again before turning towards the door of the examination room.

"You know, I have a lot of my stuff at your house already. I think I could make do for the night with what's there already and we can leave now if they're ready to release you."

"You do," Steve agreed readily trying to hold back a knowing grin. It was no secret that Danny spent more time at Steve's these days than his own place. 

"What?" Danny asked him curiously as Steve continued to stare at him.

"Nothing" Steve scrunched up his mouth. "Just that it seems a waste to go back to your place all the time for your clothes. It would probably be a lot easier if you just moved in with me, you know what I'm saying, buddy?" 

Detective Williams froze in the act of opening the door to the examination room. His heart rate sped up and he threw another glance at Steve. Did he hear it the right way? Steve had been very casual in his tone. But, there was no mistaking a sort of question in his eyes.

McGarrett licked his lips and looked away for a second and suddenly found the floor very fascinating.

"Go get your stuff, Danny. I'll be here." he added flashing him a grin that looked a little nervous now.

Danny nodded and took a breath and disappeared through the door in search of Chin and Kono who would probably be there already on their way from the crime scene.

Steve watched his partner leave and let out a deep breath he'd been holding. 

"Well, that was subtle." he chastised himself. "I'm sure he didn't notice at all." 

Steve's mouth formed a thin line as he grimaced. This wasn't how he'd wanted this conversation with Danny to start off. He'd played it over and over in his mind how he'd pictured it all and none of those times he'd done that had Danny left the room like he couldn't even face him.

Steve blamed his actions on not being on his game at the moment. He hadn't broken or sprained anything but that flying tackle he'd used to get their latest crook had banged him up a bit. There had been the ride to the hospital to get patched up, his dislike of having to be in the hospital as he'd been poked and prodded and checked for things like broken parts and concussions. It had left him a little vulnerable to Danny's presence at his side and his ranting about how Steve should have his own private parking space here given how often he showed up for treatment because of one of his stunts.

The staff found him and 5-0 in general annoying and uncooperative. They made sure they were aware of that, too. 

All of this had left him with a dull headache and he'd spoken before he could stop his mouth and now, Danny probably couldn't get away from him fast enough. Probably off trying to figure out how to say no thanks, Steven. I don't want to live with you. What we have going is fine and all, but pizza and beer, grilling on the lanai with and without my kids and watching whatever on tv and the occasional sleepover and blowjob works just fine for me, but I need my own place, you know. Thanks anyway.

The thing was that it wasn't working fine for him anymore. He wanted more with Danny. He had for a long time and had just not bothered to say it. The sex was unbelievable, the friendship a pleasure, the family Danny shared with him was just what he found he wanted. No complaints on any of it. 

He ran a hand through the short, dark locks of his hair. What had started out as a one night stand between them had turned into more and more and not one time had Steve told him that. He had just gone with it. 

Don't get him wrong, Steve was nothing if not stubborn. He never let Danny just get up and put his pants on and leave after they'd crawled all over each other. He'd wrap his arms around the man and his muscled body would tangle with his and the two of them would sleep it off. 

It was just that Danny had been a surprise to him. He'd never expected to fall for a guy, certainly not someone he worked with, someone who on the surface he shouldn't have much in common with much less become so close to and fond of at all. But, there was more to Steve and Danny than surface. 

Yes, he was attracted to him, Danny was hot all as hell with his gorgeous blue eyes that he knew how to smile with, the sunlit blond hair and compact muscled body. Who could blame Steve if that was all there was to it? You'd have to be blind not to notice and Steve absolutely noticed. He'd fought it for a long time until he couldn't anymore.

It was more than physical, though. Steve had learned after years in the Navy and the SEAL teams how to distance himself from anything and everything except doing the job. After his mother's frequent disappearing off the face of the earth acts and everyone either ending up betraying or just flat out leaving him, it had just been pretty damn near impossible for him to get close to anyone. He didn't think he knew how to connect. it always ended up hurting too much. 

Except for Danny. 

The cop from New Jersey had managed to get through every wall Steve had put up by habit as anything else. Maybe that was why it had happened. Steve was pretty sure his restraints were good and set. No one else had really gotten through and so Steve had been unprepared for the type of assault that Danny had launched on him because he'd been too comfortable in his ways.

But, Danny was special in a way that no one else ever was before and he would be kidding himself if he didn't get that that had a lot to do with it. He was always there for him, his ranting and raving projecting how much he cared for his friend and his well being. And yeah, the two of them had had a hell of a lot of good times together even as he could admit that he he had all but shanghaied Danny for his task force on that day long ago when they'd first met.

A night together had turned to more of them and then the weekends with Danny's daughter and son started becoming kind of regular and they started to look suspiciously like the family he realized he kind of really wanted. 

And now, here they were with Steve admitting to Danny in the most ridiculously not smooth way possible that he wanted him for more than just a good time and would he please come and live with him?.

Yeah, it wasn't just the trip to the hospital and everything that went with it. It was also that Steve sucked at showing his heart and he ran away from it like he was running away from a burning building which he'd usually rather face.

"Yeah, I probably should have practiced that delivery a bit more." he admitted cringing as he recalled his recent conversation with his partner.

"Worked on what?" Chin Ho Kelly entered the room cautiously and eyed his boss.

Steve's face took on a pink shade and he waved away his words with a gesture of his hand. "Nothing. Forget it."

"Hey, you don't look so bad." Chin gave him a huge grin. He stepped aside to let his cousin and fellow team member, Kono Kalakaua enter with him.

"Hey, looking good, Boss!" She flashed her beautiful smile at him.

"Don't sound so surprised!" Steve told them, rolling his eyes. "I don't know what Danny told you, but I'm fine, thank you." 

"He said you were lucky that you didn't break anything this time!" Kono sort of giggled, her hands going to her hips " Guess we can tell Jerry he doesn't have to bring his mother's minivan to help get you home!"

"No, you don't!" Steve insisted. "I can walk to Danny's car just fine. You guys don't have to stay, you know. Sure you have better things to do like make sure HPD processes our crooks so they don't walk." 

"On it, Boss. Don't worry. Duke's handling it personally. Lou's with him now. He said just go home and take care of yourself." Kono assured him. "We'll wait here until Danny gets back."

"I'm fi..." he started to repeat, but Chin cut him off. 

"Danny asked us to wait. He'll never forgive us! And we'll never hear the end of it if we leave now!" he smirked. 

The way that Kono and Chin were eyeballing Steve had him blushing again. It was probably a good thing they'd been held up at the crime scene and hadn't heard the brief words spoken in here a few moments ago. There weren't really any secrets that stayed secrets for long at 5-0. It was obvious that everyone knew that Steve and Danny had been a thing for awhile now. But, somehow he doubted that either of them would approve or applaud how he'd handled himself in here just now especially given Danny's reaction.

 

(Danny's House in Manoa)

 

Danny stuffed a few clothes and his personal items into his little travel bag in sharp, jagged movements, his mind working overtime as it ran over the moments he'd shared with Steve back at the hospital.

Shit! He'd handled that whole thing badly! Steve would probably never forgive him for that. Except that he'd just caught him completely off guard. They'd never once talked about any kind of living together. He'd always seen their arrangement as worked out somehow. Things were actually going well and working out.

Well, mostly, anyway. And that was supposed to be good enough. Danny wasn't supposed to want more. Hell, he hadn't even expected getting together with Steve in the first place. It wasn't like he'd set out to do it when they'd first met and began working together. He didn't consciously start out coming onto him or anything.

Okay, that thing that Kono always called flirting? He did NOT do that on purpose. It was....unexpected. Naturally even to go back and forth with McGarrett. He was used to flirting with women. Hell, he'd been married, he knew what flirting was and what a shock to find out that he and Steve had their own version of it!

Steve may have put it out there in really odd kind of way, but there was no way he couldn't see that he was serious and asking him to live with him. And what had Danny done? He'd left him standing there in the hospital and told him Chin and Kono were on their way to take care of him and he was going to come here and get some things. 

Yeah, no way that could be mistaken for running away, he told himself sarcastically as he folded a pair of sleep pants into his bag.

Why hadn't Steve even hinted that he was heading in this direction; given Danny some warning? Why hadn't Danny told him that maybe this might be something that really did interest him, too?

Probably because they'd started out jumping each other's bones in Steve's house and in his bed instead of talking, his head told him and it just felt safe to keep it that way...

 

(Flashback)

 

Danny rubbed a hand down his face as he searched the floor and around the room for his clothes and managed to grab his boxers up and get into the them. He knew his service weapon and badge were still on the island in the kitchen where he'd left them the previous evening. 

If he left soon, there would time to take a shower and clean up and get into other clothes before starting his day.

He craved coffee, but more than that, he felt it would be better to beat a hasty retreat. Glancing over towards the rumpled bed, he saw that the man who owned the bed and the beach house was still face down on the sheets his impossibly dark lashes forming half moons on his cheeks as it rested against a pillow.

Danny let himself enjoy the view of his form as it lay bare down to his hips, his feet sticking out of the other end over the side of the bed and he could feel his heartbeat start to quicken in a hurry!

As far as one night stands went, memorable didn't even begin to describe it. Awkward, yes, with a lot laughter and banter between them as they figured their way around each other, but surprisingly comfortable and terribly exciting.

He'd think about it later in the comfort of his own house where he could reflect on his decision to sleep with Steve by himself and wonder about the intelligence of that decision. 

Grabbing at his tee shirt, he headed for the bathroom to the sound of Steve's deep even breathing.

He found a toothbrush that was still in its wrapper and the toothpaste that Steve used and had just finished brushing and then washing his face when he heard from the raspy sleep, sexy voice coming from the doorway.

"It's still early, Danno." 

He spun around to see Steve smirking at him learning against the door frame.

"Not a late sleeper. Neither are you." Danny said by way of greeting him back. "Isn't it time for your daily swim across the Pacific?" he added on a light tone.

Damn, he looked good all sleep rumpled with his dark hair going every which way and that lazy grin covering his gorgeous face! He didn't mean to gawk, but damn! Give him a break, it was too early in the morning and he hadn't had his coffee yet to get his defenses up especially after last night!

"Saturday." Steve growled as he walked towards him, his arms going around him as his mouth headed for that spot he'd found last night at the base of Danny's jaw where it met his ear.

The blond man moaned almost helplessly as his new toothbrush hit the counter completely discarded.

Steve smirked into his partner's skin and repeated himself about the still early hour.

"You know, I have a morning workout, too." Danny's mouth could not stop itself from forming a smile as Steve continued to nuzzle him.

"I'll give you a workout." Steve promised him. "Come back to bed, babe." he nipped at the place where Danny's pulse was beating wildly!

It should have sounded cheesy, it shouldn't have sounded dirty and erotic and oh so much of what Danny wanted! They should have gotten this out of their system with their wild night of recklessness last night, not want more this morning!

"You put your clothes back on again!" Steve pouted as he started shoving fabric out of the way as he kissed a trail to Danny's mouth. 

"You didn't, babe!" Danny pointed out.

"I was hoping it would give you ideas, Danno!" Steve explained as Danny kissed him back, his arms going around Steve's torso as Steve shoved him against the wall behind them.

Danny was expecting either or both of them to have the Big Freakout this morning. Given that it was the first time for both of them with another man, logic suggested that it should be on the way at least. It wasn't awkward, well, not in a bad, Oh my God, what the hell did I do?! kind of way, anyway. But, last night hadn't been planned, it just happened because it had felt so right between this man and himself and they hadn't really thought about anything, so a mild freakout should have maybe happened, right? 

It didn't happen. Not like that anyway. Sure, there was more than a little feeling of feeling overwhelmed by the fact that Danny was attracted to another man, even more so that he wanted to sleep with him and did just that, really. And more than once. Oh, God, so much more than once!

But, as Steve got him back into his bedroom and back on the bed, his large hand going around his throbbing erection even as his lips hungrily took Danny's, Danny knew that that this was NOT just a once time thing, done and dusted and they'd go back to the way things were!

"Sweet God, Steve! Yes, keep doing that!" Danny groaned into his mouth, his body sinking into the mattress as he groaned out loudly and his body jerked into Steve's hand!

When Steve finally released his mouth completely, Danny trailed hot, wet kisses everywhere on Steve that he could get to, biting, nipping, taking him in as much as he could get and give back in response, his breath forced out of him in jagged motion, his mind reeling with every sensation he experienced!

They hadn't even done everything yet! Everything was still too new, so much to try out and yet, what was happening was snapping at his nerves and Steve's, too, if his groans and incoherent words were anything to go by and when they had blown apart together, clutching and clawing at each other, it was hard to tell where one ended and the other one began! 

He hadn't even known if he'd done it right, done it well, but they'd fallen back against the sheets and pillows, sweaty and depleted of strength and boneless and smiling and breathing out of their mouths as only the truly satisfied could do.

"God, that was...that was...!" Steve tried to form the words.

"Yeah, yeah, it was...." Danny finished for him.

Later. They'd talk about all this later. They'd talk about everything later. Right now, Danny had to get home and clean up and think about everything that had happened right after he remembered how to stand up again...

 

(end of flashback)

 

 

McGarrett House

 

Steve leaned against the kitchen counter of his home and watched the other man go through the motions of making them both a cup of tea.

He smirked as he remarked, "It's not that I don't appreciate all the fussing you're doing over me, buddy, but really, I'm okay. A little banged up, but look, I'm nowhere near as banged up as I usually am, you know. Even the hospital says it's the most healthy and in one piece they've ever seen me!" he grinned gleefully!

"Oh, right! I bet they couldn't wait to pull out their Steve McGarrett chart and past a gold star on there for today for you! One whole day with doing less crazy than you usually do. What do you think the percentage is on the staying out of trouble ratio chart?" Danny quipped.

"This is what I love about you, Danny. You always know just how to put things into perspective, buddy!" Steve was still grinning as Danny handed him his cup of the hot liquid and the two them clinked their cups together in a silent toast.

"So, how about I put some pasta together and we put in a movie and just hang out tonight?" Danny suggested casually after a few moments of silence. He figured that quiet night would be a good follow up for getting Steve to take it easy.

Steve shrugged, sure it was fine with him. He loved having Danny around with him.

He eyed him carefully now. The two of them had been feeling their way around each other since Danny had found his way back to the hospital to pick Steve up and take him back home. Their earlier conversation apparently forgotten on both their parts, they talked about the case and what a creep these crooks were and how Steve had been thisclose to rearranging a few of their faces, they talked about whether they should stop at the grocery store on the way back to the house or go ahead and wait for tomorrow, they talked about whether Steve should just take a little nap before dinner, they even talked about whether the damn bushes around the front porch needed a trim already.

So, basically, they talked about anything and everything except what they should be talking about and apparently, that wasn't going to get mentioned.

Steve took several breaths before putting his cup down slowly on the island and turned with the plan to take a shower and change into a tee shirt and sleep pants.

He made it all the way to open space that led out of the kitchen before turning around to see Danny start gathering the supplies to make their meal before the blond man stopped his machinations and turned to his partner at the same time.

"Damn it, McGarrett, you couldn't find a more nicer way of asking me to move in with you?!" he all but growled. "I mean seriously, babe?! You want me here because it's more convenient than having to head to my house for more clothes?!"

"Danny..." Steve held up his hand to stop him and Danny could see the edges of his Batman band aid.

"No! No! I mean, what the fuck, Steve?! Don't I deserve, I don't know....at little more polite, a little more feeling?! How about, Danny, would you please move into my house and share it with me because I really, really want you here?' How about that? See, look how polite that was and I did that in seconds, Steve. SECONDS!" 

His hands were going like windmills and Steve couldn't help the fond smile on his face even as he tried to get him to stop talking because the dam had apparently finally burst within him!

"And why didn't you warn me you were going to do it all?! So, that I could have answered you instead of standing there looking like an idiot?!" Danny continued to rant at him.

"Danno!" Steve tried again.

"What?!" 

Steve sighed and took a few steps back towards his friend again. "I screwed it up, okay? It's not how I wanted this to go. It just happened, I mean, my mouth started to move and I couldn't stop it, okay?" 

"So, you couldn't help yourself."

"Yes, I mean, no I couldn't." 

"You weren't at your best and it just came out." Danny said slowly, wanting to make sure he was understanding correctly.

There was something in the tone of his voice that the Navy SEAL couldn't place exactly, but it wasn't exactly the happiness that Steve was hoping to hear. But, he had to remember that Steve wasn't finished with this yet. He still had time to turn this thing around.

"So, why?" Danny wanted to know. "Why did you?" He returned his attention the things he'd put out to make their dinner and started to focus on arranging them again and the cookware he was going to use. Not that he felt like eating at the moment, but he needed the distraction to keep him occupied while he tried to make some sense out of what the task force leader was trying to tell him. It wasn't making much sense except that it appeared that Steve really didn't want Danny to move in with him and this was probably his way of freaking out about it in hindsight.

He saw that Steve seemed to be taking his time in answering him, like he was contemplating what he wanted to say.

"I might have...said yes." Williams said very quietly as he took out the pasta. "You know, I'm just saying, if that's what you....wanted to know."

"You...would?" 

"Yeah, well, I wasn't really asked." Danny could feel the heat start to creep up his face, but Steve regularly had that affect on him. "So, if you're worried that you're stuck here, I don't think it counts if you don't really ask." 

"I'm not stuck!" Steve barked at him and Danny raised a curious eyebrow. "Have I ever acted like I was stuck, Danny? From the moment we started this," he gestured with his hand in a move that looked startlingly like a Danny move. "From that moment, have I ever acted like I was stuck?!"

"You mean since we started fucking each other's brains out?" Danny supplied, his blue eyes now flashing a little bit of a fire. 

Steve bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself in check. "That's not what it was and I think we both know that. We're both smarter than that."

Danny looked away. Steve had always been a good partner in every way and they never did give what was between a name or anything or attempted to define it and those puppy dog eyes he was flashing now was making Danny feel like a jerk.

Those eyes of his had gone now from their hazel depths to a dark sea blue and there was a flush to his cheeks. "Have I?" he repeated.

Danny shook his head. "Not to me." he admitted. "Never to me. But, the way you just said..." 

"Ah, shit, Danny, I fucked up even the explanation! Sorry." he rubbed his face with a hand in frustration. Too many times, he'd wanted to tell this man standing with him exactly how he felt and what he was thinking and too many times, he'd let it go and let good heated sex and their unfailing banter do it for him instead of using his words ('Use your words, Steven.' his kindergarten teacher had constantly reminded him). Too many times, the words stuck in his throat on their way out and stayed there instead. North Korea, Cambodia, Afghanistan, even under the rubble of a building in downtown Honolulu where they'd finally shared an I love you between them had left so much unsaid. And he never pushed it. He let himself squash it all down and away deep inside him instead of telling Danny he adored him. He let their natural attraction for each other and their inability to keep their hands away take over and told himself that it said the same thing.

But, it didn't. Not the way that Danny wanted....or the way he wanted.

And instead, it had hurt Danny like it was doing now. Shit, all that time in therapy mandated by the Governor and their issues were revealed right here in minutes! How was that for irony?!

"It wasn't all on you." Danny now exhaled audibly as he put the pasta in large bowl that held boiling water and reached for a tomato and knife on the cutting board.

Steve's dark head snapped up as he heard Danny's words and he looked at him intently and took a few more steps until he was right up next to the island, his hands holding onto it as he leaned forward.

"I never told you what was going on, what I was feeling, either. I could have, I should have told you a long time ago. I think I left myself wide open for this in a way." His arm swept his immediate area, but with small little movements in deference to the knife he was holding.

"And what were those?" Steve continued, looking at him curiously. "Those feelings?"

Danny continued working easily as he spoke. "Come on, man. We've been at this awhile, alright? We've turned dancing around each other into an art form. And then, when we finally quit that, that night, I should have said something." 

The Lieutenant Commander twitched up his lips in sort of quirky smile and straightened up and folded his arms across his chest, his legs slightly apart in their stance. He looked like he looked when he was looking for answers when they were on a case. 

"Really, Steven? I'm being interrogated now?" Danny scoffed.

"You brought it up," Steve reminded him. "I was getting ready to tell you that I was a jerk for asking you the way that I did, but then you started this so, I'd like to hear it."

"Right now, you want to hear a confession from me." 

"No, not right now. I'm ready to listen anytime you want to tell me something, Daniel. But, right now, I really want to know what you want to say." 

"I bet you would. I'm more interested in hearing you tell me what a jerk you think you are, a fact that I'm not completely unaware of by the way."

Steve nodded and smirked silently. "Okay."

"Okay?" 

"Okay, so we both have things to say. Please after you."

"No, after you, please." 

"I'm being a gentleman to you here." Steve indicated with a finger before returning his arm across his broad chest. 

Danny laughed harshly. "Okay. That's a new one. But..." but, his voice went a little quiet and he chewed on the corner of his lip. "I had feelings for you for the longest time, Steve. Long before we ever did anything about it that night. Long before I even told myself. At first I didn't say anything because I was completely convinced that there was never a chance you could feel the same way. You're the most....GUY guy I know." his hand swept up and down Steve's length. 

He cleared his throat and continued, " Then, when we started sleeping together- an event that, at the time, I couldn't believe happened even after it happened- I just...didn't know what to say. It was all so new between the both of us and we didn't even know what to say, what to call it. I was getting to touch you, like that, whenever I wanted. I didn't even know how to say what I wanted or even wrap my brain around it."

 

He'd been falling in love with Steve the whole time. Their first night together had only confirmed it in very intense way. That first touch, the kiss on Steve's lanai that turned hotter by the second in a way that shocked and thrilled them both! But, really as great as that was, and Danny still can't get enough of how great that was, to be sure, but he knew, he knew that it was a hell of a lot more than that for him. 

Being with Steve, just being around him, even doing nothing but hanging out on his beach with beers and shooting the shit together or arguing over who was going to win whatever game they were watching on TV or why this actor was better than that actor, and fights in some movies were totally fake or why Danny should be eating so much better than he was and why isn't he surfing more, or why Steve needed to stop taking his life into his hands so recklessly every time they went to work, was way better than anything Danny had ever done before Steve McGarrett came along in his life. 

He couldn't remember when exactly he'd know this about himself, that he had fallen for another man. There were times, during those times when the thoughts came into his mind, when he felt like he'd been hiding these feelings for Steve forever. It wasn't just men in general, but Steve in particular and Danny had it bad.

"I just know it never went away once it happened." Danny let out a breath and braced himself for Steve's response. And it was coming. Because there was no way that Danny could ever unload this on him and not expect a response from him. Actually, if he were honest about it, there was a part of him that was afraid that once Steve knew it wasn't just about the sex and good times, Steve would run for the hills. He'd long known about Steve's abandonment issues because of his family and his trademark inability to emotionally connect with anything other than either drinks, dinner, and easy sex or in the case of his ex-girlfriend who serially dumped him, glorified friend with benefits.

Although as far as protective significant others went, Steve ran with the best of them. He was kind and loyal and the way he had systematically and stubbornly gotten Danny out of that South American hellhole prison not too long ago was proof that Danny meant more to him that Steve had every put into words.

The pasta seemed to be ready and Danny was now feverishly, but expertly working on the sauce to go with it. Steve's eyes followed his actions, his heart beating so hard in his chest that he was surprised that Danny couldn't hear it.

Swallowing hard, he stated softly, "You care for me." 

"Yeah, you big jerk, I care. Okay, news alert for you there!" The words came out as a rant, but Steve saw the telltale signs of what Danny had been telling him on the blond's face.

Steve's smirk should be outlawed, Danny thought wildly. Seriously, it was lethal, capable of bringing Danny to his knees and make him feel like a teenager with a crush! And there he was flashing it now!

"I hurt you." his smirk disappeared and it was replaced by what Danny could only describe as shame faced and more than a little bit of embarrassment. 

"Didn't I?" McGarrett's mouth turned up in a self deprecating twist on one side. "The way I asked you to come here and live with me?"

Danny wanted to deny it, he could tell. He wasn't one of those clingy types who constantly needed the words. Steve knew that. But, he was also a man whose first marriage had ended in divorce when his wife left him because she couldn't be married to a cop any longer and took their daughter with her from where they had lived in New Jersey all the way here to Hawaii. Danny growled at Rachel, but couldn't keep himself out of his own line of fire for not being able to save his relationship and keep his family together and was forced to leave everything he knew and follow his daughter all the way out here so he could keep her in life. Danny was a damn good cop and he was a hell of a father and could take a lot. But, he was also human. That shit had hurt him badly. 

Before Danny could respond, Steve swallowed and eased himself away from the island and headed over to his partner.

"What the he-" Danny started to ask, but the rest of what he was going to say got buried into Steve's well built chest as he brought him against his own form in deep a hug and moved to kiss first the side of his face before moving onto his lips.

It was a deep kiss, all lips and tongue, and emotions waiting to be released as they clung together for several heated moments!

When they broke apart, Steve licked his bottom lip and then sucked it in as stared intently at Danny, his breath like Danny's coming out in small pants!

 

Swallowing, he said in just above a whisper, "I want you to live here with me. And I'm sorry I didn't ask. You deserved a hell of a lot better than how I did it. But, I've always known...what we have. I've always known why it was you that I couldn't ever stop wanting...or needing, or loving. Because I did, I do."

Danny's eyes locked with Steve's and they waged their silent contest of who's going to blink first.

This time it was Steve. 

"Yeah, I love you, Danny. That way." he nodded. "That way."

It was the most he'd ever said that Danny could ever remember. He could even see him tremble just ever so much as he laid himself out there completely unprotected for Danny to scrutinize. And it was in that vulnerability that Steve usually didn't display where Danny saw his heart.

Danny gave a small nod. "Yeah, I want to...live here with you. I really do. I would love you anyway, even if we never did, but it would be the biggest mistake of my life if you never knew that I love you. That way."

"That way?"

"Yeah, that way." Danny grinned at him.


End file.
